What Makes You Happy

Poetry Issues has skipped a beat and there is no July-August issue. However, this is for a good reason besides the holiday slack. I was invited by Alex Witter to participate in a mail-art exhibition and I've been busy answering the hard question posed by the theme: "What makes you happy?"

Silence

A rare walk-in gem

shutting out the noise.

A meditation as deep

as death, with openings

from where to emerge fearless

and wise. Darkness as peace

for wild, overexposed eyes.

Wild Flowers

They come uninvited.

Pink and purple perseverance.

Hideous unsanctioned seeds

making no plea to the bees.

I let them take over the garden.

It’s always the stranger

that moves you forward.

Driving

I get this funny feeling

that there’s enough air

in my lungs, the certainty

that we will make it.

Brush strokes rushing

past, tangled in your hair

the world, a bonfire simile

lit by midday heat.

If you try breathing

your body simply dares

to ache, making getaway

from its weary myths.

Your Laughter

Not the reserved, polite one

but the one that gushes out

letting your teeth show

thrusting your head back

blocking your breath –

bouncing

from wall

to wall. An echo

fighting dust from dust to dust.

Alex Witter has set up a great inventory of all artists and works participating in this upcoming exhibition, where you'll find amazing work from artists from all over the world.